CA--Vatican "clears" twice accused predator priest

CA--Vatican "clears" twice accused predator priest

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach CA, western regional director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (949 322 7434, jcasteix@gmail.com)

A twice-accused priest who helped conceal child sex crimes under Cardinal Roger Mahony has reportedly been “cleared” of child sex charges by Vatican officials, despite at least two allegations. We are deeply worried by this bizarre decision.

Does anyone really believe that a long-time aide to the widely-discredited Mahony who helped protect predators and endanger kids, deserves to be restored to a position of trust and authority, regardless of whether he himself committed heinous crimes against children.

We call on Archbishop Jose Gomez to use his vast resources – church bulletins, parish websites, pulpit announcements, and archdiocesan publications - to prod anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups by Loomis to come forward, expose wrongdoers, and protect kids.

We also call on Gomez to put Loomis in a desk job far away from families and to be completely honest with his colleagues and supervisors about Loomis’ past.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 18,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)